Walker Juhan pushes aside Lakeside defender Anthony Raymond late in the first half of Jones County’s game last Friday. Juhan finished with 145 yards on 26 carries to lead the Greyhounds in rushing and now has 777 yards for the season.

It doesn’t get much scarier. The Greyhounds head to Warner Robins for a Halloween showdown with suddenly hot Houston County Thursday night needing a win to stay alive in the playoff race.

Their 35-20 loss to Lakeside-Evans at home last week dropped Jones County to fifth in the Region 2-AAAAA standings. With only four teams from the region advancing to state, the Greyhounds must win both of their final two games – at Houston Thursday and at Grovetown next week – to claim the fourth slot.

And they have to play this week in the haunted house named McConnell-Talbert Stadium, where Jones County has never won a game. True, the sampling is small – the Greyhounds have only played there four times previously. But all four trips resulted in lopsided losses – two to Northside-Warner Robins and one each to Houston County and Warner Robins.

The Greyhounds were whipped 49-21 at McConnell-Talbert by Northside two weeks ago, and they fell to Warner Robins 35-7 there last year. In their only previous road contest against Houston County, the Greyhounds lost 36-7 at McConnell-Talbert in 1996.